A Coach In The U.S.

Stu Greer

A Coach In The U.S. spotlights international coaches who have made successful careers in the U.S.

Stu Greer is Technical Director for Chill SBC Soccer Club, MI, and has earned a USSF A License and an NSCAA Premier Diploma.

YESsoccer COO Matt Brown caught up with Stu and asked him to tell us how he made it in America...

Remind me how you got started here, Stu?

Matt, you originally recruited me to coach here in the States back in January, 2005. I was a qualified coachand former youth player in England, and had some good coaching experience but I really wanted to develop further as a coach. You interviewed me and thought I had the potential to teach young players the game.

Tell us where you were assigned?

You initially placed me in a club program in Illinois where I had the opportunity to coach Spring and Fall seasons, and to think and act strategically from a club perspective. I really learned about how a club improves and grows, and during my 4 years at the club we went from 3 staff and 9 teams, to 10 staff and 30 teams.

What made you decide to embark on a full-time coaching career?

So I was coaching in the U.S. seasonally, and working on my qualifications here, but I also spent some time coaching in England with Everton. That was when I decided that I wanted to coach for a club full-time.

When you called me in 2009 with the Chill opportunity, I felt like it was the right position at the right time. Kevin and Julie Mullin (Chill SBC owners) set out to assemble the best coaching staff in the industry, and along with another one of your recruits, Ben Jones (DOC), they've really given me the resources to carry out that mission.

From the start, the Mullins have expected and encouraged me to pursue the highest coaching qualifications in the U.S. In addition to my USSF A & B licenses, I've also earned my NSCAA Advanced National, Director of Coaching, and Premier Diplomas.

What sort of opportunities are there for other coaches?

I think my development sets the pace for our entire Chill staff. Ben and I take the staff that YESsoccer recruit for us, and we insist that they grow professionally. In the past year alone our coaching staff have earned 3 NSCAA National Diplomas; 1 NSCAA Advance National Diploma; 1 NSCAA Premier Diploma; and 2 USSF C licenses and 2 USSF B licenses and this year 3 of our staff will take the USSF C license and 1 will take the USSF A license.

What is your current status Stu, tell me about your setup?

The Chill SBC Soccer Club is the fastest growing club in Michigan. I'm the Technical Director for more than 10 full-time and seasonal staff that YESsoccer recruited for the Chill, and with YESsoccer taking care of our HR aspects I can focus on leading our coaches and developing our players.

What would you tell coaches who are thinking about coming over to coach in the U.S.?

If I could share one thing with aspiring international coaches, it would be how great the lifestyle is coaching in the U.S. The people are so friendly and they truly appreciate what I do. I wake up with a smile, happy to get up and go to work. I have mates back home that are just waiting for the clock to strike 5:00 on Friday so that they can get away from work, but for me the weekend is the best part of my week, because I'm with my teams, coaching, doing what I love.